It's gotten so bad that when he sends some old engines out to a big fire, a mechanic follows just in case it breaks down in the middle of an emergency.

Half of the city's 16 engines have been on the job 20 years or more.

That's too long, said Piechura, who took the job as Stockton's chief in October but has been fighting fires for 33 years.

"This poses a risk to the safety of the city, its citizens and to the firefighters who use the trucks," Piechura said in court papers.

On Wednesday, the city's attorneys speaking on Piechura's behalf will ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein to approve a $1.9 million lease agreement between Stockton and Pierce Manufacturing, Inc., of Columbus, Ohio.

If Klein agrees, four custom built 1500 GPM Pumper trucks could be rolling the streets of Stockton by March 15.

The city doesn't believe it needs to ask for the judge's approval - a position Stockton's attorneys will argue in the same court hearing on another finger of its pending Chapter 9 case - but they will do it in this case at Pierce's request.

The city originally signed an agreement with Pierce in February, before the city filed bankruptcy June 28. Pierce next scuttled the deal fearing the bankrupt city may not pay in full, and the firm asked to draw up a new lease with assurances written in.

The new agreement includes a paragraph that allows Pierce to sue Stockton for the payments if the city defaults, despite a provision of the bankruptcy code that suspends litigation.

The city agreed to this condition, bringing them before Judge Klein on Wednesday.

Ironically, the city's request for Klein's approval contradicts Stockton's position in an ongoing battle also on Wednesday's court docket.

Stockton and its Wall Street creditors are fighting over the city's need for the judge's approval to settle a $55,000 lawsuit filed by a man who sued over alleged excessive force used by police officers.

The city wished simply to pay the man, Christopher Hallon, the relatively small sum in exchange for him to drop the lawsuit. The city could then cross one more pending lawsuit off its list of liabilities.

Stockton's lead bankruptcy attorney Marc Levinson maintains that the city can do this because under Chapter 9, the judge cannot dictate how the city spends its money or makes political decisions.

The judge's role, Levinson further argues, in a municipal bankruptcy is limited to deciding if a city is eligible for Chapter 9 and then approve its financial reorganization, called a plan of adjustment.

The creditors disagree. Jeffrey Bjork, the attorney for Assured Guaranty Corp., which insured millions of dollars worth of Stockton's bonds, along with other creditors who stand to lose millions in the city's bankruptcy, contend that Stockton is oversimplifying the protections outlined in a Chapter 9 case.

"The city envisions an utterly one-sided Chapter 9 landscape, in which the debtor is free to act with impunity and without judicial oversight," the capital market creditors argue in court papers.

The city and its creditors have already argued their positions before Klein and filed reams of written arguments. He asked for more to help him make this key ruling.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, which manages the pension plans of the city retirees, also filed briefs in support of Stockton's position.

It is unclear Wednesday if Klein will make an oral ruling from the bench or issue his written decision later.

The over-arching fight in Stockton's bankruptcy is if the city did enough to cut its expenses before making an appeal to the bankruptcy court. That question is scheduled for a Feb. 26 hearing.